A SWAT team raided a house and accidently shot dead an unarmed grandfather who was laying on the floor. The result:

The argument here is not to start putting police in prison for making honest mistakes under incredibly difficult circumstances. The argument is to stop creating those circumstances when it isn’t absolutely necessary. Short of that, we’re once again left with this: An innocent, unarmed man was shot dead by a cop. But the cop isn’t responsible. The victim isn’t responsible. And the policies that created the situation aren’t responsible. Which means that in a few days, or a few weeks, or a few months, I’m going to be writing all of this again.

I loved the first Iron Man. The second was good but just didn’t have the same feel as the first.

I felt the sequel wasted a good bit of time following Tony Stark around as he was going through his little crisis. Tony’s ego issue seemed to reveal his wasteful lifestyle. Is it paradoxical that the plutonium in his chest killing him coincided with him destroying everything around him (his relationship with Pepper, his corporation, his house, his friendships)?

I remember a while back seeing the previews for this movie and I thought that Obadiah (from Iron Man I) was Ivan (pictured). Ivan, to me, was an impressive bad guy. His ruthlessness, quiet brilliance flew under the radar of most of the fast talking American arms sellers and celebs (most notably, Hammer). If you had the patience to ask him a question or to listen carefully to his Russian-tinted English, you could get a better sense of who he was. Unfortunately, not many people, Tony Stark included, took that opportunity.

The ending in my opinion was abrupt. I would of thought Ivan would’ve gone out with more of a bang (no pun intended). I did love the symbolism around Ivan – reflecting Ivan the Terrible from Russia.

This sequel definitely convinced me of Tony Stark’s character flaws. His narcism was more than evident in the first installment. I believe both movies built on showing the inner flaws of Tony Stark – his inability to let anyone close, his constant jabbering, his egocentrism, and his hereditary motto that he is protecting America by taking out his competition, shipping off his problems back to Russia, and battling for an entire movie a man willing to avenge his fathers death by the hands of a corrupt war machine.

Both movies are well worth watching and gave me a lot of “oh man!” or “ouch!” moments.